Oil rises on uncertainty over reopening of Hormuz

By Helen Clark

PERTH, Aug 10 (Reuters) - ‌Oil prices ​rose on ​Monday on uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz anytime soon, as Iran said a deal with Oman defining ‌new shipping lanes was in its final stages but insisted the ⁠U.S. must still meet other conditions.

Brent crude futures rose 91 cents or 1.09%, to $84.46 a barrel ‌by 0056 GMT, while U.S. ‌West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 61 cents, or 0.78% to $78.79 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had fallen more than 7% last week on hopes that Iran ​and Oman were close to reaching a deal that would result in a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of ⁠the world's oil before the war.

While Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman was in ​its "final stages", it reiterated that the waterway would only reopen once Washington met other conditions, including U.S. compensation to Iran for ​its widespread attacks.

“Traders have been conditioned by ‌the on-again, off-again nature of the negotiations and are waiting for tangible evidence, such as verified tanker movements or formal agreements, ⁠before further unwinding the risk premium,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Iran and the U.S. are not engaged in talks and Tehran will not start ⁠them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas ​Araqchi said on Sunday.

In a further threat to supply, a Saudi oil plant was attacked over the weekend.

The Iran-aligned Houthis said they had hit Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery on ‌Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Sunni Muslim allies Turkey and Pakistan in response to ‌growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Shi'ite Iran.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates' ⁠ADNOC said on Friday that ‌15 of its vessels had ​been attacked transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict.

(Reporting by Helen Clark; Editing by Nick Zieminski and ‌Sonali Paul)

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